Adoni'cam (1 Esdr. viii, 39). See Adonikam.
Adoni'jah (Heb. Adoniyah' ', fT'3"1N, my lord is Jehovah, otherwise lord [i. e. worshipper, comp. An-] of Jehovah, also in the prolonged form Adoniya'hu, ilpronx, 1 Kings i, 8, 17, 24, 25, 41-51; ii, 13-24; 2 Chron. xvii, 8; Sept. 'Adwviac, but in 2 Sam. iii, 4; 1 Chron. iii, 2, 'Aciopia ; in Neh. x, 16, 'ASavict v. r. 'Aavaa, 'Aavia), the name of three men. See also
ToB-ADONIJAH.
1. The fourth son of David, and his second by Ilag- gith ; born while his father reigned over Judah only (2 Sam. iii, 4). B.C. cir. 1050. According to Orient- al usages, Adonijah might have considered his claim superior to that of his eldest brother Amnon, who was horn while his father was in a private station ; but not to that of Absalom, who was not only his elder broth- er, and born while his father was a king, hut was of royal descent on the side of his mother. When, how- ever, Amnon and Absalom were both dead, he became, by order of birth, the heir-apparent to the throne. But this order had been set aside in favor of Solomon, who was born while his father was king of all Israel. Unawed by the example of Absalom (q. v.), Adonijah took the same means of showing that he was not dis- posed to relinquish the claim of primogeniture which now devolved upon him (comp. Joscphus, Ant. vii, 14, 4). But it does not appear to have been his wish to trouble his father as Absalom had done ; for he waited till David appeared at the point of death, when he call- ed around him a number of influential men, whom he had previously gained over, and caused himself to be proclaimed king. In all likelihood, if Absalom had waited till a similar opportunity, Joab and Abiathar would have given him their support; but his prema- ture and unnatural attempt to dethrone his father dis- gusted these friends of David. This danger was avoided by Adonijah ; but his plot was, notwithstand- ing, defeated by the prompt measures taken by David, who, at the instance of Nathan and Bathsheba, direct- ed Solomon to be at once proclaimed king, with solemn coronation by Zadok, and admitted to the real exercise of the sovereign power. Adonijah then saw that all was lost, and fled to the altar [see Asylum], which he refused to leave without a promise of pardon from King Solomon. This he received, but was warned that any further attempt of the same kind would be fatal to' him (1 Kings i, 5-53), B.C. cir. 1015. Ac- cordingly, when, some time after the death of David, Adonijah covertly endeavored to reproduce li is claim through a marriage with Abishag (q. v.), the virgin Avidow of his father, his design was at once penetrated by the king, by whose order he was instantly put to death (1 Kings ii, 13-25), B.C. cir. 1012. See Solo- mon. Far from looking upon this as " the most fla- grant act of despotism since Doeg massacred the priests at Saul's command" (Newman, Hebrew Monarchy, ch. iv), we must consider that the clemency of Solomon, in sparing Adonijah till he thus again revealed a trea- sonable purpose, stands in remarkable contrast with the almost universal practice of Eastern sovereigns. Any one of these, situated like Solomon, would prob- ably have secured his throne by putting all his broth- ers to death, whereas we have no reason to think that any of David's sons suffered except the open pretender Adonijah, though all seem to have opposed Solomon's claims; and if his execution lie thought an act of se- verity, we must remember that we cannot expect to find the principles of the Gospel acted upon a thousand years before Christ came, and that it is hard for us, in this nineteenth century, altogether to realize the posi- tion of an Oriental king in that remote age. (See
> ADONIS
Niemeyer, Ghdrakterist. iv, 349 sq. ; Kitto, Daily Bible Illust. in loc.) — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v.
2. One of the Levites sent by Jehoshaphat to assist in teaching the law to the inhabitants of Judah (2 Chron. xvii, 8), B.C. 909.
3. A chief Israelite after the captivity (Neh. x, 16) ; probably the same elsewhere (Ezra ii, 13; viii, 13; Neh. vii, 18) called Adonikam (q. v.).
Adoni'kam [many A don' ikani] (Heb. Adonikam', Ui^-JX, probably, whom the Lord sets up ; Sept. Aew- viKafx'), one, whose retainers, to the number of 666, re- turned (B.C. 506) to Jerusalem with Zerubbahel (Ezra ii, 13), besides himself (Neh. vii, 18), and somewhat later (B.C. 459) his three immediate descendants, with 60 male followers (Ezra viii, 13). In the Apocryphal text (1 Esdr. viii, 39) his name is once Anglicized A n- donicam ('ASwvuccifi, comp. 'Aomukuv, 1 Esdr. v, 14). He appears (from the identity of the associated names) to have been the Adonijah who joined in the religious covenant of Nehemiah (Neh. x, 16), B.C. 410.
Adcmi'ram (Heb. Adoniram, fiT'3"IX, lord of height, i. e. high lord; Sept. 'ASojvipafi), a person men- tioned as receiver-general of the imposts [see Tax] in the reigns of David (1 Kings iv, 6, where he is said to have been the son of Abda; 2 Sam. xx, 24, where he is called Adoram, by contraction), Solomon (1 Kings iv, 14), and Reboboam (1 Kings xii, 18, where he is called Adoram; 2 Chron. x, 18, where he is called Hadoram, q. v.), for an extended term (B.C. 1014- 973), during which he had rendered himself, as well as the tribute itself, so odious to the people (comp. 1 Kings xii, 4), in sustaining the immense public works of Solomon (q. v.), that, when Rehoboam rashly sent him to enforce the collection of the taxes, the exas- perated populace rose upon him and stoned him to death, as a signal for the revolt under Jeroboam (1 Kings, xii, 18).